User blog:Alzrius/Magical Queen's Blade
One of the aspects of the world of Queen's Blade that doesn't get discussed much is the nature of magic in the world. I think that's a shame, as the nature of magic is one of the defining factors of a fantasy setting, which Queen's Blade certainly is. Hence, this blog post is an attempt to categorize the various forms of sorcery seen in the Queen's Blade setting. Before doing so, we need to quickly lay out some parameters regarding what magic is and is not, at least insofar as Queen's Blade goes. This is important, because there are some distinctly non-magical aspects of the world of Queen's Blade that are different from how things function in the real world. The biggest aspect of this is in how the various fighters of Queen's Blade can function effectively as warriors while eschewing virtually all functional forms of armor - even in a tournament where killing is verboten, this should result in serious injuries being sustained, to say nothing of those fights that occur outside the tournament proper. This isn't the only example of such things. We see other instances of abilities beyond what a person in our world could easily duplicate - such as characters able to leap a dozen feet in the air from a still (non-running) position, survive falls from great heights, and continue to function effectively even after receiving massive amounts of damage. It's fairly easy to write these off from a "meta" point of view as simply some of the conceits of fiction; these are compromises made in favor of an entertaining story over being entirely faithful to what's "real." But the point of this article isn't to simply ignore various parts of what happens in the world due to meta concerns - it's to analyze them from an in-character point of view. From an in-character point of view, the various activities described above are entirely natural abilities that people can accomplish - to put it another way, the universe of Queen's Blade is one where such activities fall entirely within the boundaries of what's physically possible for a normal person. Admittedly, "normal" here is meant to convey the lack of any supernatural abilities; it's more correct to say that these are abilities that such a person could accomplish if they had nothing more than extraordinary physical prowess - something that the women of Queen's Blade all have. In summary, if you're exceptionally physically fit in the universe of Queen's Blade, you're able to accomplish physical abilities that would be exceptional in our own world. Having said that, let's take a look at the abilities that are beyond what can be accomplished by ordinary people in Queen's Blade. The following is an informal break-down of the kinds of magic shown in the series: Innate Abilities By far the most common form of magic we see in the series are the special powers of characters who aren't (entirely) human. From Nanael's telekinetic abilities to Melona's shapeshifting to Aldra's abilities as a summoner and so many others, these powers are retained by virtue of what a given character is, rather than who they are. Imbued Abilities Some forms of magic are directly granted from others, rather than being inherent or learned. Presuming that Nyx's ability to manipulate fire comes from Funikura, rather than herself, it would fall under this category. Similarly, much of Queen Aldra's power is imbued, since it's actually the power of Delmore, summoned into her body. Alchemy Alchemy is an exceptionally physical form of magic. As depicted in the series (primarily in Queen's Blade: Rebellion), alchemy is the production of material items that function beyond what could be accomplished with entirely natural processes. It's worth noting that wizard stones seem to be central to the use of alchemy, as several notable alchemical creations - including Vante and Mirim's Hyper Vibration Armor - are created with them. Channeled Energy Channeling energy is the term used for gathering a specific type of energy and shaping it to create various effects. In Queen's Blade, this is demonstrated with the use of Holy Poses, which gather some form of divine energy to invoke religiously-themed powers. Living Weapons Living weapons occupy an odd place in this list. Are they a form of non-human life that has magical abilities? Or are they artificial creatures created with magic? It's impossible to say, since the series has yet to reveal more about the genesis of creatures such as Funikura or Setra. In terms of their commonalities, living weapons are, as described, weapons that are alive and able to use their abilities, directly or indirectly, on behalf of their wielders (though in some cases, this can clearly be to the wielder's detriment). Spiritualism The term "spiritualism" is used here as a shorthand for the ability to manipulate one's ki - the mystic energy of the body. Spiritualism allows the practitioner to repel evil, as well as increase their body's abilities. This form of magic is primarily used by Sainyang, though Tomoe apparently has some skill in it as well; interestingly, the only users of this form of magic seem to be from oriental cultures. Shamanism As with spiritualism, "shamanism" is primarily a catch-all term to cover an otherwise-unstated form of magic in the series. Specifically, shamanism is the use of magic to manipulate living things, primarily plants, though animals and people are possible as well. This is also the least-seen form of magic in the series - the only concrete example of it is in The Flying Pirate Ship when Luna Luna uses it to restore Mirim's family's farm. However, the Swamp Witch's expansion of the Swamplands could also be considered this type of magic. The Swamp Witch The single most powerful magic-user in the world of Queen's Blade, The Swamp Witch occupies a category unto herself. A peerless user of curses and necromancy, and also likely possessing summoning and shamanistic abilities, the Swamp Witch seems to be the only major spellcaster in the world. Hopefully, more of her abilities will be revealed in time. The above covers virtually all of the types of magic found in Queen's Blade. While there are some specifics that weren't mentioned above, most can logically be grouped under one of these eight categories - for example, the portals used in the Queen's Blade anime are likely created by the Head Angel, and so count as a form of innate magic. The crystal balls used to watch the tournament in Queen's Blade: Hide & Seek are likely alchemical creations, etc. (As a minor note, the Queen is said to have "royal mages" at her disposal. These "mages" seem like anything but - in virtually every media, they seem to lack any magical abilities whatsoever. In Hide & Seek, for example, they do nothing but deliver missives regarding the tournament brackets. In Aldra's character profile, they try to astrologically divine the status of Aldra's sister...and come to the conclusion that she's likely dead. Given that this is completely wrong, it's likely that the so-called mages are actually charlatans and prestidigitators with no magical abilities at all). Of course, canny readers will notice that there's a bit of a problem with the above list - it uses different criteria to determine the various categories of magic. For example, alchemy is concerned with the process by which the magic is utilized (e.g. physical crafting), whereas spiritualism is concerned with the theme of the magic used (e.g. warding), and innate abilities are concerned with the source of the magic (e.g. biology). This may make the above categories seem somewhat arbitrary, as they're alternate in whether each type of magic is defined by its source, process of casting, or nature of its effects, but this can't be helped; oftentimes this is the only way in the series that magic is defined at all. Overall, the world of Queen's Blade is a world where magic is fairly diverse, but rarely overtly powerful. Most often it helps to form the backdrop of the setting that we all enjoy so much. Category:Blog posts Category:Blog posts Category:Blog posts